


Dyed Red

by mostlovedgirl



Series: Writerversary 2020 [7]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien is chill, Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Assassin School AU, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fighting, Fluff, Human Kwamis, Kissing, One Shot, Rivals, adrienette - Freeform, bed sharing, ladynoir if you squint, marinette is confused, no miraculous, no powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:26:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29049873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mostlovedgirl/pseuds/mostlovedgirl
Summary: Welcome to Assassin School! Where your classmates are your targets, and rivalries run red-hot. At least they do for top student Marinette. Of course, there are other things that run hot…
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Writerversary 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1896934
Comments: 63
Kudos: 163





	Dyed Red

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ChocoluckChipz (Totally_lucky)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Totally_lucky/gifts), [CelineDGD](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=CelineDGD).



> Prompt: "They think we are in love." Requested by ChocoluckChipz (Totally_lucky) and CelineDGD. 
> 
> A huge thank you to my lovely betas zenmisery and TheNovelArtist.

Marinette groggily started to wake up.

What day was it? Did she have tactics with Tikki or self-defense with Wayzz for first period?

She really needed to find a way to come to full alertness faster. An assassin couldn’t afford to be so disoriented. It could easily get her killed out in the field.

She groaned and started to stir, then froze.

Something was very, very wrong. This bed was way too comfortable to be hers. It was too big. The pillow and mattress were like fluffy marshmallows, and the high thread-count sheets were buttery soft against her bare legs.

A warm body lay next to her, breathing softly.

Marinette’s eyes snapped open, catching the silhouette of her thigh holsters on the nightstand in the gray light of predawn peeking through the thick curtains on the window.

In a fluid motion, she snatched her knife from its sheath and rolled on top of the sleeping body, pinning them in place with her weapon at their throat.

“Where am I?” she demanded through her clenched teeth.

“Good morning to you too, Princess,” the man beneath her greeted, his voice husky with sleep. He didn’t sound stressed in the least to awake to her training knife at his jugular.

“Agreste?!” Marinette seethed. 

“The one and only. Are you going to stand down, or do you have orders to kill me?”

Right. Orders. They had each been given targets at the school’s spring formal the night before. It had been so satisfying to see Lila’s hideous orange gown splattered with gold paint from Kagami’s kill shot. It would wash out, but frankly the addition of the gold had been an improvement.

Until the mats were removed to reveal the marble floors, one forgot that the main hand-to-hand combat training room was originally a ballroom. The weapons racks had been replaced with garlands of fresh flowers for the evening, with fairy lights strung around the columns lining the dance floor.

It had been magical stepping into the room. Everyone was in their formal best—evening gowns for the young women and tuxedos for the men. Everyone except Plagg, of course. Not even Tikki could convince the apathetic demolitions professor to wear a bow tie. 

Marinette had spent weeks piecing together the pale pink silk ruffles and boned bodice of her gown in her rare off-hours. Even assassins-in-training needed hobbies.

Upon arriving at the dance, she had kept her face carefully neutral when she was handed the slip of quick-dissolve paper with her target’s name on it.

_Adrien Agreste_

He would be a tough one. Beneath the cockiness and terrible puns, he was an excellent assassin. He outwitted the strong opponents, overpowered the smart ones, and charmed the rest. No one had ever taken him down—except for her. 

Imagine her surprise when he strode over to her early in the evening and asked for a dance. Had they really drawn each other’s names? What were the odds? (No, Markov, that was not a serious question.)

Marinette accepted his hand, surreptitiously scanning him for weapons and coming up empty, not that she was fooled. He probably had at least two knives and a pistol on him somewhere. She had her own small arsenal hidden under her skirt. Not to mention the decorative hair stick loaded with red dye tucked in her pinned up hair.

She stayed alert as Adrien led her through a waltz. Dividing her attention between their conversation, his movements, and their surroundings was good practice.

She waited for an opening to paint him red, but he was just as watchful as she was. They each inspected their drinks and hors d'oeuvres for poison, as Pollen had taught them. No one else approached, and they kept an eye out for sniper perches. There were groans or cries of indignation throughout the ball as their classmates tagged each other. Overall it was a pleasant evening.

The last thing she remembered was her and Agreste slipping outside to go for a walk in the garden. She had been hoping for an opportunity to use her hair stick. Her memory after that was a blank—including how she ended up in this bed.

She pressed the blade harder against his carotid artery. Another millimeter and the force would be enough to release the dye along its edge, staining his skin red for the rest of the day. Proof of her kill.

“What happened?” she hissed.

“Rose,” he stated simply. “She tagged you with a blow dart. You really need to work on counting your drinks. Alcohol isn’t lethal in small doses, but it still slows your reflexes and dulls your senses.”

Marinette groaned. How could she make such an amateurish mistake? She could already hear Chloe’s ridicule. It would take her weeks to live this humiliation down.

“You were out cold. I brought you back here to sleep it off,” Adrien concluded. “So are you going to tag me for my trouble, or are we going to get ready for class?”

“You did leave yourself open,” Marinette taunted, lifting his chin with her blade.

“Only to you.” He winked and flashed her that cocky grin she hated so much.

Sunlight glinted off his hair, giving it a golden glow. Her orders were expired and they both knew it. 

“Ugh.” Marinette rolled her eyes and crawled off him. “I’m taking a shower. You’re _not_ invited.”

“The thought never crossed my mind.” 

She snorted. “Sure it didn’t.” 

Marinette let herself into his en suite and bolted the door. That jerk. His dorm room was _so_ much nicer than the closet-sized room she shared with Alya with its hard-as-nails beds and communal bathroom. Perks of having a rich daddy on the school board.

Marinette’s gown was hung with care on the back of the door to the walk-in closet. She blushed scarlet as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing one of Agreste’s black T-shirts. The oversized shirt hung loosely from her shoulders, the hem extending to her mid-thighs.

She shrugged off the boyfriend-esque substitute for a nightgown and checked her skin for marks. No black or any other colors, just a bright pink starburst on her neck from Rose’s dart. Maybe if she left her hair down it wouldn’t be so noticeable. Not that it mattered. She was sure everyone in the school knew what had happened by now. The students and staff were a bunch of gossips.

She slipped off her lacy panties and stepped into the shower, letting the hot water soak through her hair as she tried not to think about how her rival had probably seen _everything_ when he changed her out of her strapless dress the night before.

* * *

Agreste was in the middle of a set of pushups when Marinette unlocked the bathroom door. His form was perfect. The bare skin on his back glistened with a sheen of sweat. Marinette ignored the way his muscles stretched and coiled with each repetition. It wasn’t her thing. 

“Thanks for letting me borrow some clothes,” she said, pulling her damp hair up into a ponytail. Not that she had asked his permission before raiding his closet for a clean, black T-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts she had belted tightly around her much smaller waist.

“You’re welcome.” He stood, watching as she strapped on her thigh holsters and marched over to his window. “What are you doing?”

“Not interested in taking the walk of shame. I’m going to climb up to the roof and find a way to sneak into my room from there.”

“You could do that.” Agreste leaned his shoulder against the wall next to the window and tucked his hands in the pockets of his flannel pajama pants. “But I don’t know that it would make much of a difference.”

“What do you mean?” Marinette asked, preparing herself mentally for the barefoot climb. There was no way she was going to attempt scaling the wall in her satin heels.

“Well, first of all, half the school is outside jogging right now, so you’re going to be spotted climbing out my window.”

Marinette mentally cursed. He was right.

“And secondly,” he went on, “I don’t know that it makes much difference with all the rumors going around.”

“What rumors?” Marinette demanded, glaring at him. 

“That you and I are secretly dating. The students, the staff—they think we are in love or something.”

“What?” she shrieked. It was a good thing she hadn’t opened the window yet. “That’s—that’s ridiculous. I don’t love you. I _despise_ you.” 

Agreste shrugged and stared out the window. He had a nice view of the forest edging the grounds and the mountains in the distance. “It’s my fault, really. I guess they noticed the way I look at you.”

“What do you mean?”

He turned his gaze on her. She’d often seen that look in his green eyes before—in class, in the mess hall, last night at the dance… 

“Haven’t you noticed that you’re the only one who can tag me? I can’t keep my guard up around you. You distract me.”

“I don’t—“

“You’re smart. No one is better at tactics than you. You watch out for your teammates and give your all to help them. The first time I met you, I couldn’t believe you had enrolled at assassin school. I thought it must be a mistake. You were so petite and beautiful and cheerful. And then you had that first match with Kim. I was on the edge of speaking up, insisting that they pair you with someone your own size.” He chuckled self-deprecatingly. “What a mistake that would have been. Watching you take him down, the point of your knife hovering over his eye, it was amazing. Then you laughed and helped him up, and I was a goner.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“I love you.” He said it casually, like the confession was no more important than a comment on the weather.

Marinette was dumbstruck. That couldn’t be true. Her mind sifted through alternate possibilities. “If this is some kind of ploy…”

“What would be the point? I had ample opportunity to tag you last night. Nice panties, by the way. Red is definitely your color,” he grinned.

“You bastard!” 

She tackled him—hard. He was bigger and stronger than her, but she was limber and fast. She knew her limitations, but she also knew how to use her opponent’s strengths against them.

They grappled on the floor. He blocked her attacks and tried to pin her. Marinette wriggled out of his grasp to turn and attack him again. They bumped into his nightstand, toppling the heavy lamp. Adrien rolled over her, tucking her head into his chest protectively as the wrought iron piece fell across his shoulders. He grunted at the impact. They went still, breathing heavily after their scuffle.

“Are you okay?” he asked, gently lowering her head to the thick rug.

Marinette stared up at him. “You took that blow for me?”

“Of course. I’ll always protect you.”

“But… why? I’m your enemy. Your rival. I hate you.”

He half-smiled sadly and brushed her bangs out of her face. “I know.”

Her heart rate sped up again, but it was different from the adrenaline of combat. This was something else, something new.

Her breath hitched when his thumb stroked her cheek. Her vision blurred. Adrien stroked her cheek again. It was wet. Marinette choked back a sob when she realized he was brushing away her tears.

“Why am I crying?” 

“I don’t know, but I would do anything for you to be happy again.”

A battle cry born of frustration and confusion ripped up Marinette’s throat. With an effort, she flipped them over and drew a knife from her holster. Fresh tears dripped off her chin onto his face. Her hand trembled slightly as she held the blade to his neck for the second time that morning. 

“Do it, my Lady,” Adrien said evenly, his firm tone at odds with his soft eyes. “This isn’t the time for hesitation.” He lifted his chin, exposing more of his neck to her weapon’s dull edge. “Don’t hold back.”

Marinette couldn’t hold back. Not anymore.

The knife slipped from her fingers as she leaned forward and kissed him. Adrien pushed himself up on an elbow and cupped the back of her head with his other hand, kissing her back. 

She was falling. Falling hard and fast down the trap Adrien had unwittingly laid for her with his sincere words, its walls fortified by his selfless acts and polished smooth by his good heart. And she had walked right into it. 

* * *

Nino waved at the couple when they walked into their first class of the day. A black line slashed across the inside of his elbow. So he had been Adrien’s target last night. 

“Mornin’. What’s with the turtle neck, Dude? Too embarrassed that Marinette got you again?”

Adrien grinned stupidly and touched a spot on his neck covered by the high collar of his shirt. Marinette winced. “Oh, she got me good. Probably going to be red for days.”

“Days?” Nino looked confused. Everyone knew that their individual colors stained skin for twenty-four hours at most. 

Marinette’s face went as red as the dye lacing her weapons.

“Yep.” Adrien snaked an arm around Marinette’s waist, pulling her close and resting his forehead against hers affectionately. “I don’t mind. She can mark me whenever she likes,” he purred. 

Marinette shoved her boyfriend away and slugged him across the jaw with a right hook before stomping off to her seat in the wake of his sunshine laughter. 

**Author's Note:**

> “You did say she could mark you whenever.”
> 
> Adrien massaged the purple lump blossoming on his jawline, a dopey smile on his face and hearts in his eyes. “Worth it.”


End file.
